


Merry and Bright

by animeangelriku



Series: Puzzleshipping Advent [14]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Ice Skating, M/M, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-15 03:43:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13022526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/animeangelriku/pseuds/animeangelriku
Summary: The truth of the matter is that Atem gets as nervous—maybe even more nervous—as anyone else when faced with a situation he’s never been in before. The situation in question is stepping inside an ice rink with blades stuck to his shoes.





	Merry and Bright

**Author's Note:**

> A couple weeks ago, @millenium-star (on Tumblr) asked me to write an ice skating date for the puzzle nerds for her birthday, and I am here to deliver. Happy birthday, Yuki!! You’re amazing and I hope you have a wonderful day!! <333
> 
> You can also read this on my [Tumblr](http://animeangelriku.tumblr.com/post/168571560827/puzzleshipping-merry-and-bright)!

Atem isn’t fearless. As much as people believe that he can face any and every situation he might come across, the truth of the matter is that he gets as nervous—maybe even more nervous—as anyone else when faced with a situation he’s never been in before. 

The situation in question is stepping inside an ice rink with _blades_ stuck to his _shoes_.

Yes, yes, he knows they’re called ice skates, but the fact remains that they’re shoes with _blades_ attached to the bottom, which doesn’t make Atem feel any less nervous about this. 

“Yugi,” he says as Yugi steps inside the ice rink, holding on to the edge with one hand. “I’m not sure about this…”

“Don’t worry,” Yugi replies, holding out his other hand so that Atem can take it. “I won’t let you fall. I might not be able to do any fancy jumps or tricks, but I can stay on my feet just fine.”

_What worries me is that I’ll be so bad that you’ll end up falling because of me,_ Atem thinks, but he still grasps Yugi’s hand and interlaces their fingers together, allowing Yugi to slowly and carefully pull him inside the ice rink. 

For a moment, they just stand there, their fingers entwined while Atem tries to get used to standing on his ice skates, his other hand held out at his side to keep his balance. 

“See?” Yugi grins at him. “You’re already better than I was the first time I ever tried to do this!”

“Well,” Atem says, “that’s because I haven’t moved yet.”

Yugi chuckles, and the sound makes Atem feel calmer… slightly. “Okay, now just try pushing one foot forward and then the other one.”

Pushing one foot forward. Okay. It sounds a lot like walking, and it really can’t be all that different, can it? It’s basically the same concept, isn’t it?

Atem pushes his left foot forward, and Yugi’s smart enough to move slightly back so that Atem won’t crash against him. 

“Okay,” he says with a nervous smile, earning a little laugh from Yugi as they continue moving around the rink at an incredibly slow pace. “Okay, this isn’t so bad.”

“I told you, you’re a natural,” Yugi says.

Atem tightens his grip on Yugi’s fingers. “‘Natural’ might be a little too much,” he mumbles, though he has to admit that he’s doing better than he thought he would. He continues to move one foot forward and then the other one, glancing down at his legs so that he doesn’t accidentally kick Yugi. 

“That’s it!” Yugi squeezes his hand back, and Atem lifts his head just in time to see Yugi’s grin. “That’s it, you’re doing—”

Before Yugi can finish his sentence, Atem pushes his foot forward way too far, and it ends up bumping into Yugi’s skate, which sends them both off-balance. Yugi immediately reaches out to grab Atem’s hand, and before he can fall back, Atem _tugs_ Yugi toward him, causing his foot to slide forward underneath him and send the two of them crashing down onto the ice, with Yugi falling on top of Atem. 

There’s a bit of a commotion as other skaters gather around them to make sure they’re okay, but honestly, Atem can barely pay them attention. He and Yugi stare at each other, their eyes wide in surprise and shock until they both burst into laughter, though Atem’s is more nervous laughter mixed with embarrassment and mirth. Yugi leans his forehead on Atem’s shoulder, their bodies shaking against each other’s.

“I’m so sorry!” Atem chokes out, still laughing. “I’m so sorry, are you okay?”

“Me?” Yugi raises his head from Atem’s shoulder, his eyes scrunched up as he struggles to stop laughing. “I fell on top of _you_ , are _you_ okay?”

“I’m fine,” Atem says, even though he’s probably not going to get up in the next two minutes. He’s been through worse, though, and it wasn’t as bad or as painful as he imagined it would be. “You?”

“Same,” Yugi answers. “You’re a very safe cushion, you know.”

His sentence makes them both erupt into tiny laughs again. After they calm down long enough to move, Yugi sits up on his knees and then carefully gets to his feet. Then he helps Atem do the same.

“Well,” Yugi begins after they’re both standing again, their hands interlaced once more. “What do you say? Do we go back or do you want to keep going?”

If Yugi had asked him this ten minutes ago, Atem would’ve probably said he wanted to go back, they could try again another day. But now that he’s already fallen (and most likely made a complete idiot out of himself) and realized that it’s not as nerve-wracking as it originally seemed to be, he’s not so scared of it anymore. 

“We should try to go around the entire rink,” Atem ends up saying, seeing as how they’re almost halfway through it now. “And I promise I’ll be more careful.”

“And I promise I’ll do my best so that _neither_ of us falls down,” Yugi replies, bumping their foreheads together for just a second before they start to slowly, _carefully_ , move again. 

When they fall down again less than five minutes later, it’s totally Yugi’s fault.

**Author's Note:**

> Just as a sidenote, I’ll have to stop the advent for a little while. I’ve got some things I need to get done for work and these drabbles unfortunately take me more time to write than I’d like them to. Hopefully I won’t take too long to get back into them! Thank you so much to everyone who’s given me kudos and comments and likes and reblogs, it really means a lot to me!! <333


End file.
